Session 3: Avoiding the Fool
Read Proverbs 13:19; 17:12; 18:2,7; 20:3; 26:11
Fools have a powerful capacity to cause an abundance of trouble, not only for themselves but very often to those around them. There is only one chance to change a fool – the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Solomon has the following to say about fools:
“Though you grind a fool in a mortar,
Grinding him like grain with a pestle,
You will not remove his folly from him.”
Proverbs 27:22
So it seems a fool will never change of his or her own volition and is a danger to others about them as well.
1. What do you feel is the greatest danger we face from foolish people?
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2. Do you recall an incident where you or someone you know has been “ambushed” by another person’s folly?
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3. If you experienced such an incident, can you think of any warning signs you may have missed?
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4. Try the “thought experiment” suggested by Proverbs 17:12. How do you think that situation is like meeting a fool in the midst of his folly?
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5. Proverbs 18:2 tells us that fools are always ready with a viewpoint and are always eager to broadcast it. How would you expect a prudent, or wise person, to behave differently?
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6. What does Proverbs 18:7 suggest we might use as a “fool detector?”
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7. How does 18:2 explain why 18:7 is true? __________________________________________
8. In Proverbs 13:19, the second line would be better translated using so instead of but. What does this change suggest about the fool?
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9. Proverbs 20:3 shows another warning sign about fools – their quickness to quarrel. Can you think of someone you have observed who acts this way? Why is their quickness to quarrel a good predictor of their foolishness?
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10. Proverbs 26:11 is Solomon’s version of a cartoon – a grotesque image with a caption! What is there about a fool that makes them like the dog in the cartoon?
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11. Jesus warned in Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” Are we ignoring Jesus’ warning when we use the information in Proverbs to decide if a person is foolish?
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12. Is there something about the fool that we have studied that reminds you of yourself? How can we guard ourselves against foolish behavior?
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After Jesus’ warning about judging others, He went on to say, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own?” This tells us to not think more highly of ourselves than we ought. Each of us have shortcomings to improve so it should be a continual effort to keep ourselves based in reality. A wise man once said, “When we think of ourselves as angels, it is hard to keep our feet on level ground.”